5101:11-5-02
Affirmative action plan.

(A)
Adoption of affirmative action plans. Rule
5101:11-5-02 of the
Administrative Code applies to every registered program. The program's
commitment to equal opportunity in recruitment, selection, employment and
training of apprentices shall include the adoption of a written affirmative
action plan, with the exception of cases described in paragraph (C) of rule
5101:11-5-01 of the
Administrative Code, concerning a Title VII EEO program.

(B)
Definition of
affirmative action. Affirmative action is not mere passive nondiscrimination.
It includes procedures, methods and programs for the identification, positive
recruitment, training, and motivation of minority and female apprentices
including the establishment of goals and timetables. It is action which will
equalize opportunity in apprenticeship so as to allow full utilization of the
work potential of minorities and women. The overall result to be sought is
equal opportunity in apprenticeship for all individuals participating in or
seeking entrance to the nation's labor force.

(C)
Outreach and
positive recruitment. An acceptable affirmative action plan must also include
adequate provision for outreach and positive recruitment that would reasonably
be expected to increase minority and female participation in apprenticeship by
expanding the opportunity of minorities and women to become eligible for
apprenticeship selection. The sponsor shall undertake a significant number of
appropriate activities in order to meet its obligations under division 5101:11
of the Administrative Code. The scope of the affirmative action plan will
depend on such circumstances as the size and type of the program and its
resources. Whenever special circumstances warrant, the United States department
of labor (DOL) may provide such financial or other assistance as it deems
necessary to implement the requirements of this paragraph. The affirmative
action plan shall explicitly include one or more of the following
activities:

(1)
Dissemination of information concerning the nature and benefits of
apprenticeship, requirements for admission to apprenticeship, availability of
apprenticeship opportunities, sources of apprenticeship applications, and the
equal opportunity policy of the sponsor. If adopting this strategy, programs
that accept applications only at specified intervals must disseminate such
information at least thirty days in advance of the earliest date for
application at each interval. Programs that adopt this strategy and that
customarily take applications throughout the year, must disseminate the
information regularly, but not less than semiannually. All sponsors that take
applications from non-employees must, if adopting this information strategy,
disseminate the information to the council office, the office of
apprenticeship, local schools, employment service offices, Workforce Investment
Act (WIA) one-stop offices, women's centers, outreach programs, and community
organizations which can effectively reach minorities and women, and shall
distribute it through mass media that provide contact with the minority
community and women, as well as those that reach the general public in areas
where the program sponsor operates.

(2)
Participation in
annual workshops conducted by employment service agencies for the purpose of
familiarizing school, employment service, and other appropriate personnel with
the apprenticeship system and current opportunities therein.

(3)
Cooperation with
local school boards and vocational education systems to develop programs for
preparing students to meet the criteria for entry into apprenticeship programs,
insofar as these efforts promote the purposes of affirmative
action.

(4)
Internal communication of the sponsor's equal
opportunity policy in such a manner as to foster understanding, acceptance and
support among the sponsor's various officers, supervisors, employees, and
members, and to encourage such persons to take the necessary action to aid the
sponsor in meeting its obligations under division 5101:11 of the Administrative
Code.

(5)
Utilization of journey workers to assist in the
implementation of the sponsor's affirmative action program.

(6)
Granting advance
standing or credit on the basis of previously acquired experience, training,
skills or aptitude, to encourage entry by individuals who may lack access to
traditional preparation for apprenticeship; provided that such policies are
applied equally and without discrimination.

(7)
Other
appropriate activities that can be applied toward affirmative action, such as:
general publicity about apprenticeship opportunities and the benefits thereof,
via advertisements, industry reports, articles, etc.; use of present minority
and female apprentices and journey workers as recruiters; career counseling;
periodic auditing of affirmative action plans and activities; and the relevant
use of administrative procedures such as reporting systems, on-site reviews,
briefing sessions, etc.

(1)
The sponsor shall collaborate with other organizations
(for instance, community organizations and other sponsors) in positive
recruitment and preparation of female and/or minority applicants for
apprenticeship. Where appropriate and feasible, such initiatives shall provide
for pre-testing of experience and training. If no such initiatives exist in the
sponsor's locality, the sponsor shall seek to develop one, and/or to obtain
financial assistance for such efforts when it is available from DOL. In each
case where registered training is for a traditionally male occupation, the
sponsor shall engage in one or more initiatives to prepare and encourage women
to enter that training.

(2)
To encourage the establishment and use of programs
designed to prepare significant numbers of female and minority individuals for
apprenticeship, through such activities as pre-apprenticeship and preparatory
occupational training, a sponsor's affirmative action shall ensure that people
served by these initiatives are afforded full and equal opportunity for
admission to the apprenticeship program.

(E)
Updating plans.
Sponsors shall review their affirmative action plans annually and update them
where necessary, including the goals and timetables.

(F)
Analysis to
determine if deficiencies exist. The sponsor shall, with technical assistance
from the council office, conduct an analysis of at least the following factors,
which analysis shall be set forth in writing as part of the affirmative action
plan:

(1)
The
sizes of the working age minority and female populations in the sponsor's labor
market area;

(2)
The sizes of the minority and female labor forces in
the sponsor's labor market area;

(3)
The percentages
of the program's apprentice labor force in each craft that are minority and
female, as compared with these percentages of the overall labor force in the
sponsor's labor market area;

(4)
The percentages
of the program's journey worker labor force that are minority and female, as
compared with these percentages of the overall labor force in the sponsor's
labor market area;

(5)
The extent to which the sponsor should be expected to
correct any deficiencies through the achievement of goals and timetables for
the selection of apprentices; and

(6)
The general
availability of minorities and women with present or potential capacity for
apprenticeship in the program sponsor's labor market area.

(1)
"Analysis" as used in this paragraph means the
analysis described in paragraph (F) of this rule.

(2)
"Underutilization" or "deficiency" as used in this rule refers to the situation
where a sponsor's total workforce for a craft represented by the program
includes fewer minorities and/or women, than would reasonably be expected in
view of the analysis described in paragraph (F) of this rule. In this sense,
the "sponsor" means the program sponsor itself as well as any employer(s)
affiliated with the program.

(3)
A sponsor which
determines, on the basis of the analysis described in paragraph (F) of this
rule, that it underutilizes minorities and/or women, shall include in its
affirmative action plan percentage goals and timetables for the selection of
minority and/or female applicants for the apprenticeship program in the
pertinent craft(s) and, where an eligibility pool is used in the selection
process, through the admission of applicants into the pertinent eligibility
pool.

(4)
Where, on the basis of the analysis, the sponsor
determines that it has no deficiencies, no goals and timetables need be
established. However, in that case, the affirmative action plan shall include a
detailed explanation why no goals and timetables have been
established.

(5)
Establishment of goals and timetables. Where goals and
timetables are required, they shall be established on the basis of the
sponsor's analysis and its entire affirmative action program. A single goal for
minorities and a separate single goal for women is acceptable unless a
particular subset of one or both of these groups is substantially
underutilized, in which case a separate goal shall be established for that
subset. A subset goal would be required, for example, if a specific minority
group of women were underutilized even though the sponsor had achieved its
goal(s) for women generally. In establishing all of its goals, the sponsor
should consider the results which could be reasonably expected from its good
faith efforts to make its overall affirmative action program work. However, in
order to deal fairly with program sponsors, and with demographic groups
addressed by the goals and timetables requirements, the program sponsor would
generally be expected to set a goal for selection of apprentices from these
groups at a rate which is not less than fifty per cent of their proportion of
the workforce in the sponsor's labor market area. Sponsors are expected to make
appropriate adjustments annually in their goal levels, but not to reduce them.
See 29 C.F.R.
30.8(b) ("equal employment
opportunity in apprenticeship and training").

(6)
Adjustment of
goals and timetables. Where the council office determines that the sponsor has
deficiencies within the meaning of this rule, and that its affirmative action
plan contains inadequate goals and timetables, or none at all, the council
office shall establish goals and timetables for the program that it deems
appropriate to address the requirements of paragraph (G) of this rule. The
sponsor shall make good faith efforts to attain these goals and
timetables.

(H)
Compliance. Compliance with the requirements of
paragraph (G) of this rule shall be determined by whether the sponsor has met
its goals within its timetable, or failing that, whether it has made good faith
efforts to meet its goals and timetables. Its "good faith efforts" shall be
judged by whether it is following its affirmative action program and attempting
to make it work, including evaluation and changes in its program where
necessary to obtain the maximum effectiveness toward the attainment of its
goals. In the event of the failure of the sponsor to meet its goals and
timetables, it shall be given an opportunity to demonstrate that it has made
every "good faith effort" to meet its commitments. All the actions of the
sponsor shall be reviewed and evaluated in determining whether such good faith
efforts have been made.

(I)
Adjustment of program standards for affirmative
action. Where a sponsor, despite its good faith efforts, fails to meet its
goals and timetables within a reasonable period of time, the sponsor may be
required to make appropriate changes in its affirmative action program to the
extent necessary to obtain maximum effectiveness toward the attainment of its
goals. The sponsor may also be required to develop and adopt an alternative
selection method, including a method prescribed by the council office, where it
is determined that the failure of the sponsor to meet its goals is attributable
in substantial part to the selection method. Where the sponsor's failure to
meet its goals is attributable in substantial part to its use of a
qualification standard which has adversely affected the opportunities of
minorities and/or women for apprenticeship, the sponsor may be required to
demonstrate that such qualification standard is directly related to job
performance, in accordance with the provisions of 41 C.F.R.
60-3.

(J)
Data and information. The Ohio department of job and
family services shall make available to program sponsors data and information
on minority and female labor force characteristics for each standard
metropolitan statistical area, and for other special areas as
appropriate.

(K)
Existing lists of eligibles. When planning to adopt a
selection method under paragraph (C) (regarding eligibility pools) or (E)
(regarding "alternatives") of rule
5101:11-4-01 of the
Administrative Code, a sponsor that has a pre-existing eligibility list naming
fewer minorities and/or women than would reasonably be expected in view of the
analysis described in paragraph (F) of this rule, shall discard that list. In
its place, a new eligibility list shall be established pursuant to the
requirements of this chapter and of paragraph (C) of rule
5101:11-4-01 of the
Administrative Code, and shall be posted at the sponsor's place of business. In
that event, a sponsor shall not adopt an alternative method under paragraph (E)
of rule
5101:11-4-01 of the
Administrative Code, unless and until it can demonstrate that the method is
likely to achieve the maximum effectiveness in complying with the goals and
timetables prescribed in paragraph (G)(3) of this rule.

(L)
Nondiscrimination. The commitments contained in the sponsor's affirmative
action program are not intended, and shall not be used, to discriminate against
any qualified applicant or apprentice on the basis of race, color, religion,
national origin, sex, or age.